Jimmy Xu

Mingzhi (Jimmy) Xu is joining the Growth Lab at the Center for International Development as a Visiting Fellow.

He is currently the Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the Assistant Professor at the Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University.

He obtained B.A. from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 2012 and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California Davis in 2018. Dr. Xu’s research interests include international economics, economic development and the economy of China.

Carolina Pan

Carolina Pan received her Ph.D. in Economics and a M.A. in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University, as well as a M.A. and a B.A. in Economics from the Universidad de San Andres in Argentina.

Her research interests are primarily in the fields of international trade and economic development. Her work focuses on the effects of technological innovation in exports and growth, on the patterns of technological and export diversification, and on the role of immigrants in a country’s innovation patterns.

Prior to joining the Growth Lab, she was a Quantextual Research Fellow at State Street Associates in the investor behavior team, and a consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Development Bank.

William Johnson

Will Johnson is a research associate at the Growth Lab and a postdoctoral fellow in the economics department at Dartmouth College. His research lies at the intersection of international trade and economic growth. In particular, he studies structural change, industrial diversification, the dynamics of comparative advantage, and the diffusion of knowledge across industries.

Hillel Rapoport

Hillel Rapoport is Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, scientific advisor at CEPII (Paris) and a research fellow at IZA, CESifo, CReAM and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. A member of Bar-Ilan University’s Economic Department until 2013, he also held visiting positions at Stanford University (in 2001-03) and at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (in 2009-11). During that latter period, he was a visiting research fellow with the Center for International Development, of which he is a research affiliate since then. His research focuses on the growth and developmental impact of migration and on the economics of immigration, diversity, and refugees’ relocation and resettlement.

Rapoport is the scientific coordinator of the “Migration and Development” annual conferences jointly organized by the World Bank and the French Development Agency since 2008 (the 2011 conference took place at CID). His work with CID investigates the interplay between international migration and other dimensions of globalization such as trade, capital and financial flows, as well as the diffusion of knowledge and culture. 

Rapoport is the editor of two books (“Brain gain or brain drain: the international competition to attract talent”, Oxford University Press 2012, and “The economics of immigration and social diversity”, Elsevier, 2006) and has published research articles in general economics journals such as Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and in field journals such as Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Growth, Journal of Public Economics or International Migration Review.

Sarah Zadova

Sarah Zadova was Finance Manager for the Growth Lab at Harvard’s Center for International Development.

Previous work includes financial planning and analysis for global programs in higher education, tax and international trade work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and public interest legal services.

Sarah has a BA in International Economics and a JD, both from Boston University, and is an IRS-certified Volunteer Income Tax Assistance preparer.

Nikita Taniparti

Nikita Taniparti joined Harvard’s Growth Lab as a Research Fellow in 2018 and was promoted to Senior Manager, Applied Research in 2022. 

Prior to joining CID, Nikita worked at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in Tamil Nadu, India. She worked on an impact evaluation to study the social network effects of providing access to microfinance in rural areas, and contributed to publications and conferences on financial inclusion policy.

Nikita also worked as the summer intern at the Ministry of Transparency in Brasilia, Brazil, where she worked on public procurement and corruption, using machine learning and national legislation to better target federal-level audits.  She was previously a consultant at the World Bank, where she worked on study design for impact evaluations on agriculture and farmer livelihoods in Rwanda.

Nikita holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Notre Dame, and a Master in Public Administration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School. She was born in India, but also calls the United States, Brazil, and Greece home. She likes writing, practicing yoga, and cooking. 

Op-Eds:

• Double Standards: Ethiopia Must Solve its Internal Displacement Crisis. (9 January 2020). The Global Post.
• The Ruse of Repatriation: Why the Current Efforts to Repatriate the Rohingya back to Myanmar Will Fail. (12 November 2019). Kennedy School Review.
• Austerity Towards Us. (2 October 2019). Souciant.
• The Worries of ‘Log Kya Kahenge?’ on Mental Health. (11 May 2018). The Wire.
• What Happened when I Tried to Teach Harvard Undergrads about Inequality and Poverty. (5 January 2018). Quartz.
• Notre Dame Burst my Bubble. Let’s Burst Harvard’s. (15 November 2017). HuffPost. 

Chris Kohberger

Chris Kohberger is the former Grants Associate at the Growth Lab at Harvard’s Center for International Development.

Prior to joining HKS, Chris worked as a Staff Assistant and Research Assistant at Ariadne Labs, a health systems research center at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

He is a native of Long Island, New York and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from Boston University.

Matias Iglesias

Matias’s specialty is on the mathematical tools useful for making the analysis of economic realities more powerful. He exploits programming skills to develop a scientific and thoughtful approach to problems.

Apart from learning with the community of technical peers, he hopes to learn from masters of the economics of development, growth and diversification at CID.

Rodrigo Wagner

Rodrigo’s work aims to understand constraints to economic growth at the level of countries and firms, especially in new projects. At the Center for International Development he has been doing research on Growth Diagnostics, on the Discovery of New Exports, and various Financial issues for companies in developing countries and in commodity companies.

Katya Gonzalez Willette

Katya is Events and Outreach Specialist at Harvard’s Growth Lab where she coordinates logistics and marketing promotion for all events including speaker seminars, learning workshops, and high-level meetings with government counterparts. In her role, Katya also manages the Growth Lab’s social media presence and produces multiple podcast series to increase the global reach of diverse research initiatives.

Prior to joining the Growth Lab, Katya held positions in digital marketing, event planning, and client relations at The Engineering Center Education Trust and Boston University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Boston University and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Management from the Harvard Extension School. In her spare time, Katya enjoys reading, yoga and exercising, exploring new places, and trying new restaurants.